Well, Jack Ciattarelli has officially introduced his running mate on the Republican ticket for governor, tapping Morris County Sheriff James Gannon to serve as lieutenant governor during a campaign event at Johnny's Tavern in Boonton this morning.

The third term sheriff fired up supporters while vowing to help flip the seat red after November's general election.

Senior political correspondent David Cruz was there.

I can begin and end my remarks simply by saying this, because this is what I believe.

We are going to win this race this year.

Jack Ciattarelli's selection of Morris County Sheriff Jim Gannon as his running mate says two things about what the campaign is thinking.

One, Morris County is key.

Gannon is a former Boonton beat cop and a proven vote getter in Morris, which is critical to the GOP effort.

It shows that Morris County is the battleground.

It's very important to the Ciattarelli campaign.

They feel that they need to win in that county that can swing back and forth.

Gannon has run very strongly in Morris County over the years.

He's gotten over 60 percent of the vote in his elections.

Democrat Mikey Sherrill represents Morris in Congress.

He just won re-election to the seat by 15 points in November.

So as an electoral countermeasure, Gannon fits the bill.

But he's also there to send another message.

We'll repeal the dangerous, dangerous sanctuary state and restore cooperation between immigration authorities known as ICE and law enforcement officers throughout our state.

That's our commitment.

And we'll take the handcuffs off our police and restore law and order.

Nonviolent crime across this state is through the roof.

Break-ins, car thefts, flash mobs on our Jersey Shore, not under this administration.

No softening of the message, no tacking towards the middle as most experts predicted and recommended.

General, he's even bucked the conventional wisdom of diversity on the ticket.

In your mind, does this ticket represent the diversity of New Jersey?

I think it does.

How so?

You've got two white guys.

We're men of the people.

One of them's a cop.

We're men of the people.

I've won races in a town, a county, in a legislative district with Democrats outnumber Republicans.

Jim's been a man of the people for 40 plus years.

Most polls suggest that affordability is still uppermost on the minds of voters.

But law and order was big with the MAGA-friendly crowd in the room today.

And for the past 40 years, this man has walked the beat.

He has served in every capacity there is in law enforcement.

And he's dedicated his life to protecting our community.

And that's exactly what our administration is going to do.

Thanks, Putin.

Thank you very much.

Gannon didn't stop to talk to the press.

He and Cettarelli were headed to separate events.

Separately.

At the moment, it's unclear where, outside of Morris, the two will really need to be seen together again.

I'm David Cruz.

NJ Spotlight News.